Hurricane Ike Devastation - PHOTO

NVDL: There is a common misperception that Ike 'wasn't a big deal'. Have a look at the image below.

Outside, the peninsula was under siege. Flooding and winds moved beach houses onto the highway, tore off awnings and walls, and rushed straight through houses and businesses, leaving their roofs intact but their insides tossed into a salad of clothing, furniture and debris.

For the second day in a row, rescuers gathered at the point where the road from the mainland to the peninsula disappeared under floodwater, knowing that there were not only people stranded on the peninsula, but also people missing and unaccounted for as well. An elderly woman and her daughter were rescued by helicopter. A team of medics was sent to care for another group of victims.

Mr. Sherman said he also saw three looters, one running off after threatening him with a gun. - NYT

clipped from www.nytimes.com A house was left standing on Sunday amid the debris left by Hurricane Ike in Gilchrist, Tex. Floodwaters were reportedly as high as eight feet in some areas. More Photos > “This was the meanest — the meanest — ugliest, longest storm I’ve ever seen,” Ms. Sherman said. “I prayed and prayed for hours and hours and hours.” The water soon covered the floor of the house, 16 feet off the ground, then rose even more. The house was buffeted up and down, lifting off its pilings then landing again, miraculously, upon them. Unknown objects knocked against its underside as 10-foot waves surged past. The porch and bathroom broke away, crumpling into the surf. And then, as the couple fled to the attic with as many pets as they could rescue, one mighty wave knocked out the walls. “The ocean rose up like a big hand and just went right through our house,” Ms. Sherman said. “Right through our house.”